Terrors that may come
by ShortAtntionSpaz
Summary: All my other stories are about people that have little problems, but are strong, and will pull through. This is about someone that is not so strong, and doesn’t know how to pull through. What is she missing?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. I asked for them for my birthday, but no one listened to me. I don't make any money from this, who would pay me anyway, hehehe. The only characters I own are those I make up. So far, that is only Terror.

A/N Since I couldn't italicize the thoughts, they have tildes (I think that is the correct name for them...) on either side of them. ~like this~ Meh. I may have missed some, but I will survive.

Terror sat curled up on her new bunk. Everyone else was asleep, but she was unwilling to give in to her weariness. The nightmares were getting worse. No one knew. She had lived in the lodging house for a week now, and she was still so afraid of everyone. She was so afraid that she wouldn't talk to them. The other lodgers were at their wits end, they couldn't figure out if she _could_ talk or not. Trying to scrub the gritty feeling out from behind her eyes, Terror sniffed. Refusing to cry, she buried her face in her arms that rested on her knees. She sat there, shaking from the effort of trying not to cry. Despite her best efforts, a sob caught in her throat, and before she could stop it, she was crying her eyes out. 

She could still visualize it. The sheer terror of being lost, hungry, tired, and being chased by unknown men. She knew they had known her father. Once again, she was punished for her father's mistakes. He had a good job, and made enough money to get by, with his small cobbler's shop. The problem was the people that lent him the money to open his business. They thought that they should get more than 10% of profits until the debt was paid off. Big George was sick of waiting for his money, so he sent his goons to "take care" of her father, and her too. ~They killed my daddy~ she thought to herself for the thousandth time since he died. ~We were almost as happy as before momma died. Then they took him away from me.~ 

A week before, she was running for her life. Literally. If she had stopped, they would have beat her to death like they did to her daddy. There were 3 men behind her, just waiting for her to fall down with weariness. The tears in her eyes were blocking her vision, and she ran right into someone.

God was taking care of her when he guided her tear blinded path to run right into a very large group of newsboys that had just come out of the distribution center. They easily fought off the 3 goons and sent them running. She stood there, and watched the last man disappear before she collapsed. She felt someone, maybe it was the nice looking boy in the eye patch next to her, catch her before she hit the ground. She heard muffled yelling, and felt strong arms lift her up, and then she completely blacked out.

She awoke laying in a somewhat comfortable bed, covered with blankets.

There was a little boy sitting on the bunk next to her, and when she groaned and sat up, he announced, "She's awake, she's awake!"

"Calm down Tumbler!" said an older boy with dark hair and dark eyes, that was wearing a faded blue shirt, and carrying a hat that looked like it used to be almost white, but was now covered in street dust.

She closed her eyes and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Ya alright?" the dark haired boy asked her.

She nodded her head yes, then shook her head no, before shrugging, and burying her head in her knees that she had pulled to her chest.

He just stood there fidgeting, unsure of what to do. ~_Water!~ _he said to himself. ~_I can get her some water!~_

Running towards the washroom, he grabbed one of the clean cups they had sitting on a counter, and filled it with cool water. While it was filling, he thought about the girl sitting on the bed behind him. She looked like she was well enough off, well, at least she was before she ran from those 3 men. Her dark blonde hair was tangled from tossing and turning in her sleep, and her dress rumpled, but who isn't wrinkled and messy around here?

Turning back around, he spied Tumbler sitting on the edge of her bed, talking up a storm. The little boy wasn't paying any attention to her though, or he would have noticed that she was terrified of him.

"Tumbler!" he called out, interrupting the boy. "Run and get Jack for me, will ya?"

"Sure thing Bumlets. I'll hurry too!" he promised.

__

~Bumlets~ she thought to herself, ~_so that's his name~_

"I, uh.... got you some water... " Bumlets gently said to her as he held it out.

Her thirst overpowered her fear as she looked at the clear glass with the water inside it. Without hesitating, she grabbed the glass out of his hand and guzzled it down. With a sigh of contentment, she handed the glass back to him, and wiped the water from her chin.

"Ya want some more?" Bumlets asked her.

She just shook her head no.

Settling himself on the bunk next to hers, he asked "What's yer name?"

she just looked at him, not answering.

"Uhhhhh... alright, it's ok, you don't need to tell us yet. I'm Bumlets." he informed her.

The door to the bunkroom opened up and 3 guys that she didn't recognize walked in, along with the guy she remembered, the one with the eye patch.

Whether she recognized them or not, she was terrified. She scooted herself back as far as she could. until she hit the wall, and buried her face in her arms.

Bumlets turned to Jack and whispered to him, "She's even scared of 'lil Tumbler. And she won't talk neither!."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. You guys, I meet you at Tibby's later." Jack informed everyone else in the room.

"Hey Jack, should I go down to Tibby's and get her some food?" Bumlets asked.

"Dat's a good idea." Jack nodded.

He waited until everyone else was out of the room before going over to sit right where Bumlets did, on the bunk next to hers. He just sat there for a few minutes, watching her shake. She looked like she was about 15 or 16, and was very thin, like she was used to not eating all of the time.

"You cold or something?" he asked her, concerned. He pulled the blanket from the bed he was sitting on, and carefully laid it across her shaking shoulders, before settling back down where he was sitting.

She looked over at the boy sitting there. He was slouched back, comfortably leaning on one of the bunk's posts. He had a red bandanna tied around his neck, and his cowboy hat was resting on his knee.

Clearing his throat, he asked her, "How's it rollin'?"

His question was met with silence, as she just looked at him, and shook her head.

"That bad, huh? I'm Cowboy, or Jack, Jack Kelley. What's yer name?"

She just looked at him, biting her lip.

"What are you so terrified of?" He gently asked her.

He wasn't surprised that she didn't respond.

"Alright..... we gotta call you somethin' though. How' bout Terror?" He asked her, "Since you're even terrified of Tumbler, and Tumbler isn't even strong enough to squish a bug."

She shrugged, showing indifference. 

"Alright, Terror, my good friend Bumlets is gonna come back up here with some food for you, you need to eat, you don't looks so good."

She responded with a shake of her head.

"No?" Jack asked, "You not hungry?" he guessed.

She let the blanket fall, and reached in her pockets, and pulled the fabric lining out, showing that they were empty.

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it. The first night's food is always free around here!" Jack exclaimed.

She just gave him a look that said she didn't believe him.

"Yer right, not really, but we'se always helpin' others that need it. You certainly look like you need some help...."

The door creaked as Bumlets opened it, balancing a plate of steaming food on one hand.

Terror jumped when she heard the door creak, but relaxed when she saw that it was Bumlets.

Her eyes widened and her mouth watered at the sight of such a plate full of food.

She gratefully accepted the plate and nodded her thanks before she dug in. Bumlets sat down on the edge of the bed next to Jack and they just sat, smiling in silence, watching her wolf down her food.

She was about halfway finished when she looked up and noticed them staring at her. She swallowed her bite of food, and licked the mashed potatoes and gravy from her bottom lip, and forced herself to slow down.

When the last bite was swallowed, she realized that the last time she had eaten food this good was before momma died. Her daddy was a horrible cook. She got used to scraping the burnt pieces from everything. He always said that was the part that made you stronger. She always laughed and offered him the burnt scraps that she pulled off of her food in trade for his un-burnt parts.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the painful memories flooding back. It was her fault. He wouldn't have gotten that loan in the first place if he didn't have to support her too. He wouldn't have had to pay so little off of his loan every month if she wasn't there too. She shouldn't have suggested that he try and get the interest rate lowered. He would still be alive if she hadn't given him that idea... One solitary tear threatened to spill, but she held it back, and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked her.

She scrunched her forehead in thought, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Still don't know?" asked Bumlets

She just shook her head.

"The rest of the guys should be up here soon, just so you know." Bumlets told her. 

Her eyes got really big, and she resumed her shaking.

"It's alright, I promise you, every one of our guys would protect you, they're all good hearted." Jack assured her.

She looked into the eyes of the Manhattan newsies. She had heard that he was a smooth talker that could sell a his last pape to a newsie that already had a stack of a hundred. Nevertheless, there was something in those hazel eyes that spoke from his heart. ~Trust me.~ They radiated concern for a lost and scared girl, a street rat, just like him. He had seen this desperation, and terror in others. There was a bit of it in every orphan of the streets. 

~But he doesn't know what I did..... she thought to herself. I let them kill my daddy. It was my fault. Once he knows, he won't be bothered with me anymore. What I did was unforgivable.~ she thought to herself.

She survived the evening. Jack thought she was going to split her forehead with her eyes widened that wide for so long. He figured she wasn't used to a lot of people around. 

Her father was a quiet person. So was her mother. Their fights, which rarely happened, were not even close to as loud as this room was. There were boys everywhere. Some were sitting and watching, but most of them were involved in a huge pillow fight. Tumbler's pillow came in contact with the back of Swifty's head, and there was the sound of something ripping, and Swifty's head was surrounded by a halo of feathers. Sputtering and spitting feathers out of his mouth, Swifty attacked Tumbler, smacking him with a pillow, and disarming him. Swifty tossed the ripped pillow off to the side, and it landed right in Terror's lap. She fingered the ripped fabric of the pillow, and continued to watch their battle. Swifty had Tumbler pinned to the floor, and was mercilessly tickling the smaller boy, who was laughing so hard that tears were falling down his happy face.

~I haven't laughed like that in....... I don't think I ever have.~ she thought to herself.

After everyone was finished with their fight, Terror motioned to Bumlets, who was sitting there, watching her. He walked over to her, and she motioned to him that she wanted a needle and thread, so she would sew Tumbler's pillow. Bumlets Walked across the room to get the necessary things for her to sew the pillow, and he told Tumbler to pick up as many feathers as he could, to put back into his pillow. He jumped up from the floor where he was sitting, and scooped up handfuls of white feathery fluff, and sheepishly set it next to Terror, who started tucking them back into the pillow. By the time he had finished picking up all the feathers, she had the needle threaded and was ready to start stitching. Tumbler sat on the foot of her bed and watched her work until she knotted and cut the extra thread.

"Thank you!" he grinned at her before scurrying off to get ready for lights out.

She settled into a life all together different than her past. For the first time in her life, she was wearing a boy's shirt, that she embroidered with flowers to make it more feminine, and 2 pairs of pants that were taken apart and pieced back together to form a skirt. Her clothing wasn't the only thing that changed. Being the only child of calm, quiet people, just watching these boys interact with each other was a culture shock . She never grew tired of watching them. She learned a lot about them in a short time, just by sitting and observing. She learned that Pie Eater has nightmares, Snitch talks in his sleep, Jack is always too cold, Kid Blink was always too warm, and sometimes Crutchy's bad leg aches before a change in weather. She also noticed that Skittery was interested in stargazing, and Bumlets likes to fence. Snoddy has allergies, Boots likes to whistle, Dutchy loves to read, and Snipeshooter gets bloody noses easily.

She always just sat and watched them. After a while, they got used to her not talking. It didn't stop them from talking to her anyway.

"Terror?" Snitch called out. When she looked over at him, he continued. "You any good at untying knots?"

She shrugged, then nodded, motioning for him to show her.

He hobbled over to where she was sitting, limping unevenly because he was wearing only one boot. He sat on the floor by her feet and lifted his boot covered foot up to her. She grabbed his foot and rested it on her knee, and examined the huge knot in the lace.

She shot him a puzzled look, and he explained, "Snipe tied it while I wasn't looking. I didn't even notice until I started getting ready for bed."

It took her a few minutes, but she finally got the lace untied.

That was what started it all. Every time any of the boys, old or young had a problem, they started coming to Terror. She started bandaging cuts, mending clothes, and listening to complaints. She was great to talk to. She gave her opinion with her facial expressions, and only once did she feel the need to smack someone upside the head for their stupidity. But she didn't. She was still a bit afraid of them. She was even more afraid of the rest of the world though, so she earned her keep by cleaning the lodging house.

"Terror, can I talk to you?" was the phrase she heard most often, this time spoken by Snoddy.

She nodded and put down the broom she was using to sweep the floor, and sat down on a bunk, and motioned for him to sit across from her.

"There's this girl.... She works at a shop a few blocks down. She smiles at me everyday when she walks by. Her smile is like the smile of an angel. I think I'm falling for her, and I don't even know her name. I don't want to scare her by walking up to her and sayin', 'Hey, what's your name? Ya wanna go out?' What can I do? " 

She smiled at him and thought about it for a few seconds. Hey eyes lit up, and she pointed to the simple little flower design she had embroidered onto her shirt on the sleeves.

"Flowers?" he asked "Are you sure?"

Terror nodded earnestly, then held up one finger.

"One flower?" he asked puzzled. When she nodded, he asked, "Why only one?"

She shrugged her shoulders and put up another finger, to symbolize 2 flowers, then she smiled at them, before pretending to hold a huge amount of flowers, and got an expression that said she was almost frightened of the huge amount of imaginary flowers.

"Hmmmm, I think I get it. A lot of flowers is just too much, it might scare her away?" Snoddy asked.

Again, she nodded earnestly.

"What kind of flowers should I get?" he wondered.

She held out her sleeve to him again, and showed him one of the various flowers in the embroidered design.

"Daisies?" Asked Snoddy.

With a smile, Terror nodded at him.

"Hey, thanks!" Snoddy grinned at her before getting up and going back out into the street to finish selling.

The smile on her face remained there until after she was finished sweeping the whole bunkroom.

Snipeshooter burst into the bunkroom like a madman, carrying a bent tin cup, and dropping his small stack of papes onto the floor next to the door.. 

When Terror gave him a look of confusion, he explained "Jake was makin' fun of me, so I'm putting mud in his bed!" he said, holding up the tin cup he was holding with a angry look over at Jake's bed.

Alarmed, she shook her head, eyes wide.

"Why not?" he demanded.

She pointed to herself, then made a scrubbing motion with her hands.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You would clean it up, an' that's not fair to you." Snipeshooter said, disappointed. Then he walked over to the window and tossed the whole cup, mud and all, back out to where he found it, in an alley.

"Now what can I do?" he asked her, disappointed.

She got an idea, and grinned. Walking over to towards the door, she grabbed one of his fallen papers and walked back over to Jakes bed. Snipeshooter watched with curiosity as she pulled back his blanket and sheet, and started ripping the paper into bug pieces, and crumpled them up a bit. Then she piled the ripped, crumpled newspaper at the foot of his bed, and pulled his sheet and blanket back on, over the paper. Snipeshooter giggled when he realized her plan. 

"When Jake gets into bed tonight, he will have a surprise! A surprise that's easy to clean up!" Snipe grinned. "Thanks Terror!" he called over his shoulder as he bent to pick up the rest of his fallen papes and strutted back out of the bunkroom, proud of his attempt at payback.

Later that night, when Jake crawled into his bed, he screamed, before scrambling to his feet, hitting his head on the ceiling.

"There's something in my bed!" he shouted. 

Kid Blink, who happened to be walking by at the time, pulled back his sheets, revealing the crumpled paper. The room erupted in laughter.

"Snoddy, ya shouldn't be a newsie if yer scared of papes!" Racetrack snickered at him.

Mush brought him a garbage can from the corner of the room, and Jake kicked the crumpled paper into the garbage with a vengeance.

"Terror, who did this?" he demanded.

She looked at him, mouth hanging, before hitting herself under her chin to close her mouth, and put an invisible lock on her lips, locked it, and threw the key over her shoulder.

Jake almost fell off of his bed laughing at her. She could be feisty if she wanted, it just didn't show very much.

Terror realized something, just then, as she snuggled into her blankets. She wasn't afraid of them anymore.... at least she didn't think so. She was part of their mismatched family. She grinned before settling down into her covers. A thought struck her. If they find out that it's all my fault that my daddy got killed, they won't want me here. The thought of having to leave them gave her a stomach ache.


	2. Words of Terror

A/N: I wanted to do a specialful shoutout to my wondiferous friend Katie, a.k.a. PhoenixTBN. She always reviews my stories. She has to, just to make sure I don't say anything bad about her, since she is IN one of my stories. But she is a willing participant that reviews from the kindness of her heart. 

:-D Thanks Katie. :-D

The next morning, everyone was scurrying around the room, making sure that they had everything they needed for the day. Terror was sitting on the floor, and trying to teach Tumbler how to double-knot his laces. 

Kid Blink called out, "Hey Terror."

She stood and walked the 10 feet or so to put herself right in front of Blink..

He continued, "You have been cooped up in here for 2 weeks now. Ya wanna come out to Tibby's for lunch today?"

Her heart struggled to find a decision. She had cabin fever, but she wasn't willing to venture out on the streets by herself, to find a restaurant she had never been to. She bit her lip in concentration, but after a few seconds, she shook her head.

"Why not?" Blink asked her.

Terror just shrugged, and hung her head.

Blink pulled her chin up so that she was looking at him, and asked her, "You really want to go outside, don't you? But you're afraid."

She closed her eyes and nodded.

"Look at me." he told her. 

She opened her eyes, and looked into his eyes.

"I will- We will make sure nothing happens to you, alright. I will personally come all the way up here, and escort you to Tibby's. Does that sound alright to you?"

She considered it for a moment, then she shook her head yes.

"Alright!" Blink exclaimed, "I'll come by later for ya." he told her.

"Are ya really coming to lunch with us today?" Tumbler asked her.

She smiled at him and nodded.

"Whoo hooo!" he cheered, then he jumped up from the floor where he was sitting, and skipped out the door and down the stairs.

"What was that about?" Mush asked Blink.

"You'll find out later." Blink told him.

Terror tried to keep herself busy all morning, but it was so hard to keep her mind on her work. She was so excited about going to lunch in a restaurant, and eating with all "her boys." She ran out of things to clean while she was waiting, so she pulled out a scrap of fabric, and started embroidering a design on it.

When she heard the door squeak, she looked up, Kid Blink walked into the room with a grin, "Ya ready, Miss Terror?"

Smiling, she put her project away and walked over to him. He put his elbow out, and said, "I shall properly escort you."

She grinned at his effort with fancy manners and linked her arm with his, and they walked out of the room.

No one noticed when the door opened in the restaurant, but they noticed when Terror walked in.

When a few of the newsies cheered upon seeing her, that caught the attention of everyone else, and then they all joined in.

She just stood there and grinned, unsure of what to do. Mr. Tibby came over to escort them to a table.

"So you are the fine young lady that hear truly enjoys my cooking?" Mr. Tibby asked.

Terror just grinned and nodded.

"So what can I get for my biggest fan?" he asked with a smile.

Back at the lodging house, Kloppman was talking to a rather large man that came into the lodging house.

"I'm lookin' for my kid. Her name's Emma Rose. She ran off and I need to find her, her mother's bad off, and I don't want her to pass on without seeing her beloved Emma Rose."

Kloppman thought to himself, ~This idiot doesn't even look like he's 30 years old! There's no way he could have fathered a child 16 or more years ago, what does he want? ~

With Terror being there, it was like a celebration of sorts. And for some reason, Spot Conlon decided to grace them with his presence, he was there to talk some things over with Jack. Spot sat down right next to Terror, since it was the only free space at Jack's table. Terror warily looked at him, then across the table at Jack for help.

"Oh, he's fine Terror, that's Spot Conlon, Leader of the Brooklyn newsies. Brooklyn and Manhattan are fierce allies. That, and Spot's a good friend of mine."

Terror visibly relaxed upon hearing this. She knew she could trust him if Jack did.

Jack continued, "Spot, this is Terror, I told you about her before."

Spot noticed how tense she got when she sat down, and felt the fear radiating from her being until she was reassured. She seemed so fragile, and he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her from all harm

"Yes, you did, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you." he said with a smile

Jack looked over at Spot. He had told the hot tempered, know-it-all, respect me, or else, leader of the toughest gang in New York to watch himself, and not scare her, but he didn't expect him to actually try to put her at ease. Jack had known Spot for a very long time, and he had never passed up an opportunity to show everyone why they should fear him.

All of a sudden, chaos erupted. Skittery and Pie Eater had a disagreement that finally came to blows. Skittery grabbed Pie Eater, and threw him to the ground, and tackled him. They were rolling around on the floor, throwing punches, when despite herself, Terror, stood up and shouted, "Knock it off! How old are you guys, five?"

The whole room was stunned into silence.

Then Terror realized that everyone was looking at her, and she retreated back into her shell, and sat down, looking at her plate. Spot grabbed one of her hands, and squeezed it for support.

"Terror, are you finished eating? I think I'm ready to go back home now." Jack informed her.

She looked up at him, and realized that her fears were futile, he wasn't mad at her for not telling him that she could talk. Looking around the room, she realized that no one was mad at her. She looked back at Jack and told him, "Yes, I'm ready to go."

As Terror went to stand up, she noticed that she was still holding Spot's hand. She looked at him, and they stood up at the same time, without letting go. Making their way around the tables, they walked outside, and down the street.

"Emma Rose? I have never heard of anyone with that name before." Kloppman said, shaking his head.

"Well, if you hear anything, can you contact me" the man said, sliding a card with a handwritten name and address on it. "This is where I am staying for now. I would like to take a look upstairs, just to make sure though." He said, starting for the stairs.

Kloppman stepped in front of him, "I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that, sir, our policy states-"

The man, towering over him by more than a foot, grabbed Kloppman's collar and threatened, "I don't care a thing about your policy, I need to find that kid. Why don't you come with me." He ordered Kloppman.

Before Kloppman could protest any more, the door opened, and quicker than the man could react, Spot had his slingshot out, and pegged him in the side of the head with a marble. It apparently hit him in just the right place, because he slumped over, and Kloppman had to jump back to avoid being landed on.

"Who is this?" Jack demanded, looking down at the fallen man.

"I don't know, he came in looking for someone." Kloppman told them, as he leaned on his desk, trying to calm himself down.

"He was looking for me." Terror stated.

"How do you know that?" asked Jack.

"Because he killed my daddy." she said, her voice shaking, and her chin quivering. "I know, I saw him. He tried to kill me too."

"Jack, you tie him up, I will send for the police." Kloppman said, walking back behind his desk.

Jack took off his rope belt, tied the man's arms behind his back.

Terror sunk to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest, and burying her face in her arms. Spot just did the only thing he could think of, he sat next to her, and put his arm around her shoulder.

She spent the rest of the day in a daze. After giving her statement to a well-rounded policeman, she just stood there with her eyes unfocused. She wasn't looking at anything, just out into the room. The only ones left in the room with her were Jack and Spot.. Mostly everyone was still out wandering the streets.

"Emma Rose, is it?" Spot asked her with a smile.

She looked at him and said, "That's what my mother named me."

"It's beautiful." He told her.

With a smile, she said "Thanks, but I don't think I want anyone to hear me being called by my real name right now."

Jack asked her, "Well, do you object to Terror?"

"Nah, I like it, in fact." she told him. "I think I am gonna go take a nap, I am exhausted."

"Good idea." Jack told her. "I think I'm gonna go get some air, I'll warn everyone to stay out and let you sleep while I'm out there." Jack said, starting for the door.

"Thanks." she told him. She turned and started for the stairs, but hesitated at the bottom. 

Spot walked over to her, "You don't want to be alone, do you?"

Biting her lip, Terror shook her head. Spot held out his hand, and she took it, and they walked up the stairs together.

When they got into the room, Spot tucked her into bed like a small child, pulling the blankets up to her chin, before settling down on the closest bed, and leaning on the wall.

Once again, she slipped into despair. ~I wish my daddy was here. He would still be alive if it wasn't for me~

Assuming she was asleep, Spot relaxed. He had overheard what she told the police officer. Like a lot of street rats, she had gone through something horrible. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, when he heard her quiet sobbing. His heart went out to her. He stood up, and looked at her, she was laying there with her eyes closed, and tears streaming down her face. Spot looked around, unsure of what to do. He knew it wasn't appropriate for him to sit on her bed while they were alone, so he sat down on the floor next to her bed and held her hand. Gradually, her sobbing and shaking stopped, and she drifted into a deep sleep.

About a half hour later when Jack was back from his walk, he found them both asleep, Spot was slumped over with his head leaning on the side of her bed, next to hers, and his hand still holding hers.

Jack carefully spread a blanket over Spot, and tiptoed back out.


	3. Consuming Guilt

A/N: I don't own Newsies. If you do own Newsies, I want to buy them from you. :-D I also do not own Newsboys, which is an awesome band. I thought their song was quite appropriate, because of their name, and because it is a cool song. Newsies, Newsboys, I love them both. :-D

Terror groaned and stretched, gradually waking herself up. She suddenly became aware of the fact that someone was holding her hand. Her eyes opened, and she looked around, first seeing Spot, still asleep on the floor, then she realized that Kid Blink, Jack, Racetrack, Bumlets, and Snitch had all found chairs, and were sitting around her bed.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked her

Before she could answer, Snitch asked her, "Ya want some water?"

Race asked, "Ya hungry?"

Bumlets wondered, "Do you need another blanket?"

Kid Blink, asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

There was no mistaking the concern in their eyes, and in their voices. They were truly worried about her.

"I don't know whether I should feel extremely loved, or extremely freaked out by the fact that I just woke up and I am surrounded by a bunch of guys that were apparently sitting there watching me sleep." She grinned at them.

They all chuckled at that. 

"Should I wake up sleeping beauty, here?" Terror asked, motioning to Spot with her head.

"I think that if he sleeps much longer, he's gonna be sore from sleepin like that." Bumlets told her.

"True." she agreed before squeezing his hand. When that didn't phase him, she sat up, and pulled his hat from his head with her other hand, and put it on her own head. He stirred, but didn't wake up.

Terror's eyes lit up with mischief, and she reached out and tickled his side. He awoke with a start, and instinctively pulled her from the bed , and onto the floor, and he ended up laying across his lap.

Giggling, Terror asked Spot, "Didja have a nice nap?"

"Did you have a nice fall?" he challenged back, grouchily, before he thoughtfully asked, "You alright?"

"I'm fine." She said.

Right then, Spot looked up and noticed that they had an audience. He jumped with surprise, then grew slightly embarrassed when he realized that he was sitting on the floor, with Terror sitting on his lap. Carefully, he grabbed her arm, and helped her to her feet before standing up himself.

"So how'd ya sleep, Spot?" Grinned Racetrack.

"Quite well, thank you." Spot sarcastically quipped.

"Good, good." Race answered.

"Hey, Terror, can I talk to ya for a minute? We can go up on the roof." Jack said, adjusting his bandanna.

~Was that nervousness I see in him?~ Terror thought to herself before answering, "Sure thing, Jack."

After walking across the room, Jack opened the window for Terror, and after she climbed through, and out onto the fire escape, then he followed. Up on the top of the roof there were a few crates that were dragged up, and placed as furniture in random places all around.

After perching herself on a crate, Terror asked nervously, "What's wrong? Did I do something bad?"

"No, you haven't done anything wrong, you are fine." He reassured.

Terror hadn't realized just how tense she was until she relaxed. 

"I want to tell you about Spot." Jack told her.

"Spot?" she asked, "Why Spot?"

"Spot is not the kind of guy that holds a girl's hand in public. But I saw him hold your hand earlier. Spot is not the kind of guy that would ever think of falling asleep sitting on the floor next to a girl's bed, holding her hand. I saw that today too." Jack told her.

"I don't understand what you are trying to say...." Terror stated, confused.

"Spot isn't exactly a ladies prince charming. Those eyes catch a girl's fancy, but with one look at the frown, they all run. Every girl that has gotten close to him, has ran at the first show of his famous temper. That boy guards his heart like nothing else. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. There's something about you, Terror, that has captured his heart. I don't think he has realized it yet, but he's fallen for you."

Terror's eyes widened, "Why me? There's nothing special about me."

"You can't possibly believe that, can you?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. "I live here, without contributing as much as everyone else, I am an inconvenience, but I have no where else to go, so I stay here. Until today, you guys didn't even know I could talk! You should be mad, and kicking me out for lying to you!" She stated in a near shout.

"What are you talking about? You are part of our family! You listen to our problems, fix our clothes, make us feel good about ourselves, clean up after us, and you feel guilty for not doing enough? Because of you, Kloppman doesn't have to climb up and down the stairs all day long, to clean up, and make sure we are behaving properly, and not trashing the room. Right now, none of us could imagine losing you!" Jack exclaimed.

"But you don't know what I have done." she stated quietly, hanging her head.

"What could you have possibly done wrong?" Jack asked her, exasperated.

"It's my fault that my Daddy died." she whispered. "He needed more money, because I was there, and it cost him money to care for me. He had to get a loan from that guy Spot knocked out. He could have gotten by without a loan if he didn't have any expenses. If he didn't have me. Then when that man decided he wanted more of his money back, he followed me home, and I didn't notice. I led him straight to my daddy, and I couldn't save him." she said as she broke down into sobs. "What I did was unforgivable. Even God will never be able to forgive me. My father was a good man, he didn't deserve to die. Why didn't they kill me instead, Jack?" She pleaded with him.

Thrive

By: Newsboys

Down here in the valley

Every shadow you see

Has its own story

Down here in the valley

Every puddle of mud

Comes from tears and blood

And it's so hard just to get warm

That the chill turns into despair

Chorus:

Will you lift me up with tender care?

Will you wash me clean in the palm of your hands?

Will you hold me close so I can thrive?

When you touch me, that's when I know I'm alive

Down here in the valley

Nothing's able to grow

'Cause the light's too low

Folks spend their days

Digging 'round for diamonds and gold

'Til they just get old

And they don't know anything else

They don't know they're breathing bad air

But I'm tired of living like this

And my soul cries out, "If you're there..."

Chorus

Call me up to your side

Draw me up to your light

Let it blind me

Lord, refine me

Refine me out of my mind


End file.
